HHS to release slow-growth health spending numbers as Obama readies for big push for law

Politico: The Obamacare Fixer
Phil Schiliro's work on Obamacare has come full circle. As President Barack Obama's legislative director, Schiliro helped get the Affordable Care Act through Congress. Now, he's back as the fixer. Even with the website now working, many Democrats have run out of patience with an administration that has failed to anticipate and address problems before they become political disasters. ... Shortly after his unexpected return last month, Schiliro met with more than a dozen Democratic senators to convince them the White House gets it (Budoff Brown and Allen, 1/3).

The Washington Post: For Obama, A Full 2014 Agenda: Income Inequality, NSA Reforms, Health Care
With millions of Americans receiving health-care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Obama will try to shift the public's attention from the disastrous rollout of the HealthCare.gov Web site to the real-life benefits of the law. Obama plans to do some outside-the-Beltway travel in the weeks ahead to showcase successes, according to administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president's plans (Rucker and Wilson, 1/4).

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Weighs Tech Fixes After Health-Site Woes
The Obama administration, stung by the failures of the HealthCare.gov rollout, is considering loosening hiring rules for technology specialists and creating a new federal unit dedicated to big tech projects, officials said. ... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initially served as its own general contractor on the project, but its lack of technical expertise quickly became apparent. Only after the site's launch did the White House bring in experts from Silicon Valley as well as a new general contractor (Nagesh, 1/3).